Major global offices of Hyundai Motor Company and Kia turned into the black last year as the South Korean automakers logged record-high earnings on surging sales across the world, according to their audit and business reports on Wednesday. According to the audit report of Hyundai Motor Company, the automaker’s manufacturing plant in Alabama posted 236.3 billion won ($180 million) in net income in 2023, a drastic turnaround from the net loss of 808 billion in 2022. Named Hyundai Motor Manuf

Mobility March 13, 2024

The feud over South Korean game developer Nexon's Maplestory, a popular side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG, is escalating, with gamers filing a class action suit and Nexon taking the antitrust regulator’s fine assessment to court. As the in-court battle is expected to take a long time to reach any sort of conclusion, gamers are hoping that the case can help spread awareness for protecting their rights, while Nexon looks to vindicate itself. Regard

Industry March 12, 2024

The state of Indiana has risen as one of the hottest investment destinations in the US for South Korean companies as of late, with Samsung SDI leading the pack by committing billions of dollars for joint battery plants there. Indiana is now hoping to expand the scope of collaboration with Korean players in the sectors of semiconductors and artificial intelligence. “There’s a lot of alignment when we talk about semiconductors. Purdue University was one of the first universities to hav

Industry March 11, 2024

HD Hyundai has teamed up with Naver to accelerate its digital transformation, the South Korean shipbuilding giant said Monday. According to the announcement, representatives from the South Korean shipbuilding conglomerate and the country’s information technology giant signed a memorandum of understanding to bolster the former’s cloud transformation and artificial intelligence business at the latter’s second data center, known as Gak Sejong, in the the city of Sejong. Under the

Technology March 11, 2024

진행자: 간형우, Ali Abbot Fake news on soccer star generated W700m: report 기사 요약: 축구선수 이강인 관련 가짜 뉴스 영상이 유튜브에서 7천만 조회수를 기록하며 7억원 정도의 수익 발생됐다는 인공지능 기업의 보고서 [1] YouTube videos carrying fake news about controversy-ridden soccer star Lee Kang-in are thought to have generated up to 700 million won ($523,000) in profit in the two weeks after his alleged altercation with Son Heung-min became public, a report by an advertising consulting firm claimed Sunday. *-ridden: ~에 시달리는 *alleged: 추정된, 제기된 *altercation:

Podcast March 11, 2024

Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s third-largest carmaker, is getting closer to testing the production of electric vehicles equipped with solid-state batteries in collaboration with Factorial Energy, a US-based solid-state battery developer. Factorial Energy announced in October last year that it delivered the first A-samples of its 100+ amp-hours Factorial Electrolyte System Technology solid-state battery cells to one of its auto partners without disclosing the name of the original equipmen

Mobility March 10, 2024

Hyundai Motor has begun a trade-in service for customers looking to buy new electric vehicles by offering incentives to encourage domestic EV sales, the South Korean automaker announced Thursday. The trade-in benefits, which became effective on March 1, apply to those who sell their cars to Hyundai Motor’s certified used vehicles service and buy the automaker's EVs: the Ioniq 5 and 6 as well as the Kona Electric. According to the company, customers who sell their used EVs made by Hyun

Mobility March 7, 2024

진행자: 간형우, Ali Abbot Marriages in Korea fall by 40% within a decade 기사 요약: 2013년 32만 이었던 혼인 건수가 작년 19만으로 10년새 40% 감소 [1] In another piece of grim news underscoring South Korea's looming demographic crisis, the number of marriages in 2023 fell by 40 percent compared to the level recorded a decade ago, government statistics revealed Sunday. *grim: 암울한, 음침한 *underscore: 강조하다 *looming: (주로 무섭거나 위협적이게) 다가오는, 보이기 시작하는 *demographic: 인구통계학 [2] According to Statistics Korea, an estimated 193,673 co

Podcast March 7, 2024

The dispute between South Korea’s two major shipbuilders -- Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, housed under Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, respectively -- is escalating, with Hanwha taking legal action. Hanwha Ocean on Monday filed a complaint with the National Office of Investigation to probe into the case of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ nine employees who were convicted of collecting military secrets and leaking them, asking the authorities to uncover info

Industry March 5, 2024

The battery associations of South Korea, the US, the EU and Japan announced the launch of the World Battery Forum in Seoul on Monday. The WBF has been established to accelerate the battery industry's net-zero energy transition, analyze worldwide battery regulations to push for an eco-friendly energy policy environment and make joint efforts to secure fair and free trade and investment as well as stable global battery supply chains. The WBF will meet every year and change location in the ord

Industry March 4, 2024

Hyundai Mobis, an auto parts manufacturer under Hyundai Motor Group, said Monday that it had applied for 2,500 patents in and out of South Korea last year, with almost half of them related to its core business area of future mobility. According to Hyundai Mobis, about 1,200 patent applications were in future mobility sectors such as automation, autonomous driving and in-vehicle infotainment systems. “Hyundai Mobis' patent reinforcement activities are aimed at securing a competitive ad

Mobility March 4, 2024

Korea’s 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) next-generation space launch vehicle project got off to a bumpy start, as the bidding process to select a private entity to lead the large-scale task is likely to be a one-man show. Officially named the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-III, the goal of the next-generation rocket project is to assemble a launch vehicle capable of sending a lunar lander to the moon in 2032. The improved rocket will have a mission capacity some three times stronger than the hom

Industry March 3, 2024

Earlier this week, Apple announced that it will ditch its decade-long car project, saying more resources will be poured into artificial intelligence in the future. An Apple-made car had long been a buzzword across industries. Carmakers had braced for a direct threat, while tech rivals had started working on their own car projects. But Tuesday’s surprise announcement was a reality check moment not just for the iPhone maker but also for the whole tech industry: Making a car proved too diffic

Industry Feb. 29, 2024

Hyundai Motor Group announced Wednesday that it has won the highest number of vehicle safety awards from the US Insurance Institute of Highway Safety among all assessed global automakers this year. According to the South Korean automaker, its three brands -- Hyundai Motor Company, Kia and Genesis -- won a combined 16 Top Safety Pick and TSP+ awards at this year’s annual assessment. “Hyundai Motor Group is proud to have earned the industry leadership position in the recent IIHS 2024 T

Mobility Feb. 28, 2024

Italian luxury auto brand Maserati will set up a Korean office on July 1 to strengthen its presence in the local market. Forza Motors Korea, the country’s official importer of Ferrari and Maserati, announced Monday that Maserati’s Korean business will be transferred to the Italian brand’s Korean office, adding that FMK will continue to closely work with Maserati to help smooth business transition and customer support. FMK, a luxury import car affiliate under South Korean conglo

Mobility Feb. 27, 2024